IOC Executive Board gives thumbs up for Breaking at Paris 2024 27/03/2019

IOC Executive Board gives thumbs up for Breaking at Paris 2024

The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF) welcomes the decision today by the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to move forward with a proposal by the organisers of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 to include Breaking on the sports programme for their edition of the Olympiad.

When asked about Breaking at a press conference announcing the decision, IOC President Thomas Bach said: “It is a very authentic expression. With every performance you feel the personality of the athletes. It’s not just delivering an exercise, it’s expressing yourself. […] I admire the moves they make. Even in my time as an athlete I would have never even gotten close to this kind of motion and flexibility in the body.”

The IOC President, an Olympic gold medallist in fencing, added that he admires how Breaking perfectly combines the sports aesthetic with personal expression.

Breaking joins Skateboarding, Sport Climbing and Surfing as the four shortlisted sports for possible inclusion at the XXXIII Olympiad. The package of sports will now be submitted to the IOC Session for provisional approval during meetings in Lausanne, Switzerland from 24-26 June. It was announced today that the final decision on Breaking’s inclusion at Paris 2024 will only be taken after the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, in December 2020. In the meantime, the IOC will have a monitoring programme in place that will look at the performance, management, governance and integrity of each of the four sports.

“The WDSF is very pleased to have overcome this latest hurdle en route to Paris 2024,” said WDSF President Shawn Tay. “We would like to thank everyone, especially the Breaking community itself, for the overwhelming support and commitment we have received from around the world. We could not have come this far without you and look forward with great anticipation to the IOC Session in June.”

The Paris 2024 organisers proposed the four sports in response to a new level of flexibility afforded to Olympic Games Host Cities to encourage innovation in the Olympic programme. Host Cities, beginning with Tokyo 2020, now have the option of suggesting new sports and events for inclusion in their edition of the Games that are not binding on future Games hosts. Skateboarding, Sport Climbing and Surfing were also included on the programme for Tokyo 2020, making Breaking the only new sport under consideration for the 2024 programme.

“I am extremely pleased that the IOC continues to show its confidence in the proposal of Paris 2024 from last month,” said French b-boy Mounir. “I am personally delighted to see that the IOC firmly believes in the potential of Breaking to contribute to the success of the 2024 Games. Today’s decision is warmly welcomed by the Breaking community, and it gives us extra motivation as we work toward this historic occasion.”

Given the outstanding success of Breaking at last year’s Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, the WDSF remains convinced that the discipline can add significant value at low cost to the Summer Olympics and the Olympic Movement as a whole.

While its origins are in the United States, today’s elite-level b-boys and b-girls come from all corners of the globe. Breaking is very popular in France, with an estimated 1 million people practicing the sport and 350 registered clubs.

The country hosts 560 national and 11 major international Breaking events every year. There is also a powerful development programme at the national level in place, aimed at supporting competing b-boys and b-girls with coaching and training preparation. More than 10,000 athletes have already benefited from the programme.

The 2024 Summer Olympic Games are scheduled to take place in the French capital from 26 July to 11 August.

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